Anchor tuskfish
Choerodon anchorago
Illustration: Bloom by Day
A stocky tuskfish with a black band right around the base of the pectoral fin, a tapering yellow bar behind it and a white upper tail base. It stays in shallow rubble and weed close in, and is one of the easier tuskfish to name once you see the ring.
how to recognise it
- a distinct black band encircling the fleshy pectoral-fin base
- a tapering yellow bar behind the pectoral fin
- the upper half of the tail base distinctly white
don’t confuse with
- Purple tuskfish — the purple tuskfish has blue-edged scales and forehead stripes, and no black ring at the pectoral base
- Blue tuskfish — the blue tuskfish has a large pale patch below the rear dorsal and blue tail tips
- Graphic tuskfish — the graphic tuskfish is banded across the body
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-15. Our wording, their facts. Max size 50 cm TL.
facts
- habitat
- reef
- size
- ~35 cm, to 50 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (50 cm TL); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records
- 198 at 18 spot(s), none of
them in this region
Recorded at Cod Hole (Ribbon Reefs GBR), Low Isles (Port Douglas), Port Douglas (Outer GBR), Green Island (Cairns), Fitzroy Island (Cairns), Frankland Islands (Cairns), Dunk Island (Mission Beach), Magnetic Island — Geoffrey Bay, Hardy Reef (Whitsundays), Bait Reef (Whitsundays), Hayman Island — Blue Pearl Bay, Hook Island — Manta Ray Bay, Tongue Bay (Whitsunday — North), Cid Harbour (Whitsunday — West), Cairns Reef (Great Barrier), Great Keppel Island (East), Great Keppel Island (West), Dunwich Jetty (N Stradbroke — Bay). A count of occurrence records, not abundance. Records are where someone looked.
when it has been recorded
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A gap means no record in the sample, not absence.
the rule
QLD — Min: 30cm · Combined limit: 6 in total of all tuskfish species
source
· verified 2026-10-10
no NSW rule listed — check before you dive
no closed season recorded for this species — that is not the same as open; check the official page
Rules checked 2026-10-13 against qld.gov.au
Rules change. Check before you dive.
Occurrence data: Atlas of Living Australia (ala.org.au), CC-BY 4.0.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.